Solar Citizens

NSW Campaigner Charlie Rodrick and Ops Manager John Sturt-Addicott met with their local MP, Allegra Spender last week, in the Wentworth electorate with other representatives from the Sydney Alliance. The meeting highlighted Allegra's support for the ambitions of the Alliance and Renew Australia For All, particularly in helping #renters and apartment residents to access the economic and health benefits of #renewable #energy.

Solar Citizens wants to warmly thank Dr Gabrielle Kuiper and Danny Kennedy for being our special guest speakers at our Summer Soiree event, where we all met our new Solar Citizens team member - Mr Battery! Consumer energy resources are the "real zero heroes" of the shift to clean energy - already driving down cost of living, energy bills, and carbon emissions. At our soiree, we celebrated the many wins of 2024 for Consumer Energy Resources that Solar Citizens has been campaigning for, and looked ahead to the challenges and opportunities of 2025. Mr Battery will be leading our charge for a federal battery rebate, to marry our Aussie home owners $25 billion investment in rooftop solar with home batteries so we can use cheap clean solar day and night, and help retire aging coal-fired power plans. We need to maximise the cheap clean power from our four million homes with rooftop solar by getting a million household batteries in our homes by 2030. The Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, has done modelling which shows we need to ‘firm the electricity grid’ with 8GW of household batteries, roughly equivalent to one million installations by 2030, to ensure lower energy bills during the orderly exit of coal-fired power. Given this important role for home batteries, it’s hugely concerning that there is no government policy to drive delivery of this large number of household batteries.

Homegrown solar panel production? Yes, please. Solar Citizens have been excited to work behind the scenes to promote SunDrive's copper-based solar panel innovation to the government - we want to see more locally made renewable energy manufacturing. https://lnkd.in/gUEtc2tG

I'm Sarah Roberts, a long-time Solar Citizens supporter, just like you. I’m also a single mum, so I know juggling the budget is hard, which is why I support Solar Citizens’ work to bring down the cost of living and to champion a safe climate future for my son. That’s why I've decided to take on a “Sun Fun Run” this weekend to raise much-needed funds for Solar Citizens' work towards ensuring access to clean, affordable energy for all Australians. When I first joined Solar Citizens as a supporter and volunteer back in 2016, there were around 1.3 million Australian households with solar… and now there are over four million! We Aussies are world leaders in rooftop solar uptake, in a large part because Solar Citizens have been there for the last ten years fighting for our rights as solar owners, and helping drive campaigns for policies that create cleaner, cheaper energy. So, donning some Solar Citizens kit, I’ll be doing the Sydney Trail Half Marathon this weekend. This is my first ever half marathon and I’m feeling a little nervous, but I know it’ll be worth it for this awesome cause! So far I’ve raised $1450 from my $2500 target - can you help me reach the finish line by making a donation? Donating only takes a moment: go to https://lnkd.in/grceneDH I’ve long believed that the Solar Citizens team punch well above their weight. Their long track record of policy and campaigning wins is just one reason that I feel passionate about contributing to the organisation. By donating, you're not just supporting my run for Solar Citizens; you're investing in a cleaner, cheaper future for all Australians. Thank you for your contribution to this cause that means so much to all of us. Sunny Regards, Sarah Roberts

Join us - for a free webinar with home electrification "rock-star" Tim Forcey! In this webinar we will cover a range of topics including: 💸 Savings with solar and household batteries ⚡ Heat pumps, induction cooking, and getting off gas 🚗 V2G and 'batteries on wheels' 💡 Plus more! Tim Forcey is one of Melbourne’s top home energy experts and has advised energy companies, local councils, and the Victorian state government on the important role household electrification can play in both the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis. Tim is the author of the recently published book: My Efficient Electric Home Handbook and is the creator of the rapidly-growing Facebook group by the same name, which now has over 120,000 members. Sign up today to get your Zoom link! https://lnkd.in/gnxJuyuJ

CEO's pick: In this 25 minute podcast, Head of the Climate Change Authority Matt Kean discusses the low-hanging fruit we need to mobilise on to drive down carbon emissions and cost of living by 2030 - including solar on commercial and industrial rooftops. This is an area for all states to act on but in particularly David Crisafulli MP as Premier for QLD, has recently announced a plan to spend a cool billion dollars of taxpayer money on maintaining aging, expensive, polluting coal-fired power without making clear his plans to replace aging coal power. Mr Crisafulli, before the state election Solar Citizens delivered you our 9 Point Plan to save half a million Queensland households about $1,700 per year on their energy bills. This includes policy recommendations for harnessing commercial rooftops in the Sunshine State for solar energy production. Urban Industrial Renewable Energy Zones (UIREZ) can be activated now without any social licence issues - we recommend these policy settings to help you get there: 1. Addressing the rooftop solar subsidy gap for systems between 100kw and 1,500kw capacity 2. Enabling peer-to-peer energy trading within the UIREZs 3. Onsite storage through the installation of stationary battery systems or facilitation of vehicle-to-grid charging to encourage onsite consumption of excess solar generation. 4. Planning initiatives for the development of new industrial precincts, or enhancement of existing precincts, in locations appropriate for designation as Urban Industrial Renewable Energy Zones Find out more in our 9 Point Plan for QLD: https://lnkd.in/ghVHHZ-M Podcast link: https://lnkd.in/gCSUxgpX

It's that time again... the Sunniest Neighbourhood Awards are back! 🏅 Yesterday Solar Citizens headed to Canberra to deliver the first of the 2024 awards to the Federal MPs representing the top solar-producing postcodes in Australia - including Member for Holt Cassandra Fernando, Member for Groom Garth Hamilton, Member for Longman Terry Young, and Member for Pearce Tracey Roberts. Is your postcode in the top 15 Sunniest Neighbourhoods? Click here to view the 2024 winners and find out: https://lnkd.in/gm2PYrhT 🌞

Tomorrow, Solar Citizens will be in Canberra to deliver our storage petition to Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, to ask the Federal Government for financial support for households to install batteries and bidirectional charging equipment so that they can use their EV as a 'battery on wheels'. ⚡ We're up to 7,672 petition signatures, and we're hoping to crack the 8,000 mark by tomorrow - can you help us get there? Click here to sign our affordable batteries petition and help deliver cleaner, cheaper energy for all: https://lnkd.in/gw_yBYXD

4 million solar households! 🎉🎉🎉 That's the number we heard yesterday from Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen - there are now officially 4 million solar homes around Australia. What an amazing new record, so many households being powered by cheap, clean energy! Here's to the next 4 million 😎

Our QLD Clean Energy Campaigner Philippa recently installed some cutting-edge clean energy tech in her garage. In her latest blog post she gives an explainer on the excitement of having a 5-in-1 energy storage system - which goes well beyond your usual home battery. #CleanEnergy #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #V2G https://lnkd.in/gey4df9W